Wiranto rights trial unlikely

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

East Timor Attorney General Longinus Montero said on Sunday the trial of former Indonesian Military chief Gen (ret) Wiranto for his alleged role in crimes against humanity and war crimes in the former Indonesian province might not materialize due to lack of evidence.

Although prosecutors have submitted additional evidence to support Wiranto's indictment, Montero acknowledged it would not provide the Dili District Court a breakthrough to try Wiranto.

"As a prosecutor, I hope the court will accept the indictment. However, if the court refuses it I already have an answer for the public," he said on the sidelines of a visit here.

If the court rejects the indictment, East Timor state prosecutors would no longer continue to level charges at Wiranto with regard to gross human rights violations that occurred before and after a UN-sanctioned ballot that resulted in a unanimous vote for independence in 1999.

Montero said previously that prosecutors had, in February 2003 and January 2004, tried to take Wiranto to court for similar crimes. The judges threw both indictments out, claiming that the prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence to support the serious accusations.

Prosecutors resubmitted the indictment for the third time in February this year.

Despite his pessimism, Montero claimed he had done his best. He said the latest indictment against Wiranto was supported by accounts from some 1,500 eyewitnesses and data from numerous important documents.

Wiranto's case is among 1,041 rights abuse cases currently being investigated by the East Timor Attorney General's Office. They are all related to a wave of violence that erupted in 1999.